Can anyone please tell me what shrub this is and when best to cut it back, its got quite big and I want to reduce it by about a third if poss..?? Nip bit off last year but not sure if timing was wrong as small part died off, so very important, I do not want to kill it.....

19 May, 2010

Answers

Are we talking about the lilac-flowered one at the back? It's hard to tell (have you got a photo closer in?) but I think it's a lilac. They resent being pruned - they flower on old wood. My DH would insist on cutting back the ones in our last garden (he seemed to think he needed to get past them :-) ) and they never flowered properly afterwards.